Pussy Riot

a punk prayer

Founded in 2011 after Vladimir Putin was given a third term as Russian president, Pussy Riot is an anonymous feminist art collective/punk band based in Moscow. The group's protest inside the cathedral was intended to protest Putin's union of church and state. On Feb. 21, 2012 they participated in a 40-second "punk prayer protest" on the altar of Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral before being detained. Arrested and tried for trespassing, wearing "inappropriate" sleeveless dresses and disrupting social order, Nadia, Masha, and Katia were accused of religious hatred in a trial that reverberated around the world and transformed the face of Russian society.

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As far as documentaries go, this one was pretty one-sided. The subjects were called mostly by their first names alone, which made them more sympathetic to the viewers. There are other examples of how the documentary makers tried to sway the audience's opinion. I don't necessarily disagree with these sympathies, but there should be more than one side represented. This felt more like an activist film, rather than a professional documentary.

This is a 2013 Russian-British documentary directed by Mike Lerner and Maxim Pozdorovkin.
The film follows the court cases on the Russian feminist & anti-Putinist punk-rock protest group Pussy Riot.
The footage of the court proceedings and interviews with the families of the band members reveals how the world media influences Putin's mind.
The trial and sentence attracted considerable criticism, particularly in the West.
The case was adopted by human rights groups including Amnesty International, which designated the women prisoners of conscience, and by a wide range of musicians including Madonna, Sting, and Yoko Ono.
Public opinion in Russia was generally less sympathetic towards the women.
Putin stated that the band had "undermined the moral foundations" of the nation and "got what they asked for".
Apparently, however, Putin is quite concerned about how the world media reacts to the court proceedings.
It is a thought-provoking documentary in terms of how the world media influences the mind of a power-hungry leader like Putin.